Generally, almost all trunk compartments of vehicles have a trunk lid that opens and closes vertically so that, when in the closed position, a portion of the trunk lid is located adjacent a high rear end panel provided with fixed tail lamps. The space in such trunk compartments is limited in longitudinal length, and therefore, when it is desired to carry excessively long articles, the articles must extend out of the trunk compartment. To accomplish this, the trunk lid of the trunk compartment must be secured in the open position in some manner. Although such long articles can be accommodated by having the trunk lid in the open position, an additional problem is presented in that the high rear end panels can make it difficult to load and unload the trunk compartment.